If you’ve seen Juan asked:
Lots of cities now have laws against smoking indoors, but if you smoke outside, it still goes somewhere, right? Could it have a measurable environmental impact?
(Full disclosure: I am a non-smoker who hates being around smoke.)
Don’t know the carbon footprint, but smoking emits smoke, obviously, which is pollution.
I’m sure it pollute the air, but on a MUCH, MUCH smaller scale than oh, say cars??? People drive cars everyday, so I really wouldnt worry about cigerette smoke because there is no comparison.
Actually, a lot of cities have banned you from even smoking outside. I know that cigarette butts aren’t good for the environment…they aren’t biodegradable…I think that eventually cigarette smoking will no longer exist. I think right now our major concern should be the very angry group of people going through withdrawl because they are not allowed to smoke. I don’t know about you, but I think the big cities should break up and place the bans one neighborhood at a time…having a huge city full of people quitting the habit at once is a terrifying thought!!
I could smoke all day and not emit a fraction of the CO2 that my car does during one trip to the store to get a new carton. Start worrying about something real, toad.
not quite sure, but of course smoking causes carbon monoxide in the air, and however small, the gathering of all the smoke from cigarrettes in the area add up. not only that, they are the single most littered objects in the world, so yea, it probably could have a measurable environmental impact, but this is something you call a non-point source of pollution (well, in a way) which means you really cant pull out an exact number because it’s everywhere.
oh, and answer above,
just having the name “miss informed” just automatically gives away how stupid you are… suggestion of name change? maybe something like “omglol4eva” would be more fitting. ha.
The carbon footprint of smoking is zero.
I’m not defending smoking–it’s a serious health risk. But it doesn’t contribute to CO2 in the atmosphere.
Here’s why: Before you can make a cigarette, you have to grow the tobacco. The plant, as it grows, takes CO2 out of the air. That’s where the plant gets the carbon in the first place. when the tobacco is burned, the carbon is released back into the atmosphere–but there’s no net increase in CO2 in the air.
It’s exactly the same principle that “biofuels” are based on. When ethanol is burned, it releases CO2–but the process of growing the plants to make the ethanol takes the CO2 from the air beforehand, so there’s no net increase in the CO2 in the air.
Of course, ethanol doesn’t kill people. But this is one point on which cigarettes have to be fund “not guilty!” :)
Like peeing in the ocean raises the water level.
methane is the worst possible gas for the environment. We emit it everytime we fart. Do i need to stop farting outside now? If you want to be green, go ahead, but dont make me have to pay for your “love” for the envrionment. Maybe pick up the heating bill for my house or the extra money it costs in diesel fuel for me to drive my truck. I dont make lots of money, i cant afford to buy a new, more fuel effiecent car. I need a truck and so do many others out there.
I think this is perhaps an absurd question. As Miss Informed quite rightly points out there are many things which we do every day which have a much larger environmental impact than smoking. Although from a personal health perspective, there are few things as impactful.
Hmm so I get the Idea you want to use this unrelated issue (global warming) to piggy back with your actual cause(hate smoking). It’s cool, all the activists do it. It is similar to an animal rights activist (vegan) complaining that raising beef is bad for the environment. Good luck with your cause.
i imagine the growing, drying and transport of the tobacco and manufacture and transport of the fag butts and cigarettes will use measurable amounts of fossil fuel and fertiliser.
actually smoking the fag, carbon neutral as it is last year’s carbon in the co and co2.
the lighter or match also has a footprint.
oh, and what would be growing on the land if the tobacco crop were not there? i think this is probably the most important aspect environmentally and socially; loss of forest or farmland for food crops, and people working for a pittance for the tobacco company instead of growing food for themselves.
next year i aim to grow some of my tobacco myself, i have had some success with the ornamental variety. it used to be a common thing here in u.k. before the war for old boys to grow their own.